Accusations escalate among Israeli officials over prisons overcrowding

JERUSALEM

The debate and trading of accusations among Israeli officials have escalated over the overcrowding of prisons holding Palestinian prisoners since the start of the offensive on the Gaza Strip last October.

The General Security Service (Shin Bet) accused the Israeli government and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called for more violations of the detainees' rights, for ignoring months of warnings that huge amounts of additional detainee space were needed to absorb thousands of new Palestinian detainees related to the ongoing offensive.

The issue of prison overcrowding came to light after the release of Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, on Monday.

In a lengthy statement on X, Ben-Gvir said on Tuesday: “Since I took office as Minister of National Security, one of the highest goals I set for myself was to exacerbate the conditions of 'terrorists' in prisons and reduce their rights to a minimum.”

Ben-Gvir said that after the outbreak of the war last Oct. 7, “I was finally able to implement the long-awaited reform. The conditions of the 'terrorists' in prison were reduced to a minimum: we stopped financial deposits, canceled the canteens, removed electrical appliances from cells, stopped outdoor walks, significantly reduced the time spent in bathrooms, and stopped the lenient menu which was converted to a simple menu. In short, we completely stopped the summer camp conditions."

“There is overcrowding in the prisons,” said Ben-Gvir, adding: “I never thought of releasing 'terrorists' from prisons because of overcrowding.”

“This is the essence of the disagreement between me and the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, as he believes that the conditions of 'terrorists' in prison, including overcrowding, look bad in the world and could lead to escalation. I argue that if what happened to us happened in any other country in the world, it would do much more,” said Ben-Gvir, a controversial extremist.

“I have already proposed a much simpler solution, which is to legislate the death penalty for 'terrorists,' which would solve the overcrowding problem – legislation that Shin Bet also strongly opposes,” stressed Ben-Gvir.

Israeli Prison Service officials said on Tuesday that "there should have been preparations for emergencies and the reception of detainees from the beginning of the war, but this did not happen practically."

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority quoted unnamed officials saying, "From the beginning, there was no prior preparation in the Prison Service to receive hundreds of detainees."

At least 9,623 Palestinian prisoners are in Israeli custody, Israeli-based human rights group HaMoked said Monday, citing Israeli Prison Service data.

“As of July 1, 2024, Israel is detaining 2,059 sentenced prisoners, 2,783 detainees, and 3,379 administrative detainees without trial. Israel also detained 1,402 people as 'unlawful combatants’,” said the group.

​​​​​​​The term “unlawful combatants” is used by Israel to describe Palestinians from the Gaza Strip detained during its ongoing offensive on the enclave since last Oct. 7.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala​​​​​​​